For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Lots of talk this week about the pros and cons of local foods. Also, congress says pizza is a vegetable, heritage turkeys are the greatest thing since bacon and coffee/tea may reduce your risk of mercury exposure from fish.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links on Twitter (@summertomato), Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Eating locally is no longer such a longshot <<Isn’t it wonderful when the right thing becomes trendy? (Seattle Times)
• The Inefficiency of Local Food <<BS of the week. If you aren’t sure why biological systems shouldn’t be treated like machines, check out Joel Salatin’s new book Folks, This Ain’t Normal (review coming soon). (Freakonomics)
• Congress Blocks New Rules on School Lunches <<BS of the week, part deux. You’ve probably heard that congress decreed pizza is a vegetable this week. What I learned in this article was that the real question was how much sauce (certainly full of sugar) counted as a vegetable. Apparently if more sauce was required the pizza lobbyists would have been upset (but instead they’re happy). And no, this is not from The Onion. (New York Times)
• What’s the Deal With Heritage Turkeys? <<I never liked Thanksgiving food. Granted my family’s poor cooking skills are the primary reason, but another big one is that big, dry turkeys are not the best endorsement. Everything poultry changed for me when I discovered heritage turkeys and chickens. Mind blowing. (YumSugar)
• Eating at home is (almost) always cheaper than restaurants <<I’ve been saying this forever. Eating out is a luxury. (Christian Science Monitor)
• USDA: ‘Locally grown’ food a $4.8 billion business <<Apparently local food is not only popular, it’s also booming. (Associated Press)
• EASY TIPS FOR USING THE LAST OF SUMMER’S PRODUCE <<I love this. It’s harvest time, live it up! (Ecosalon)
• Coffee and tea reduce exposure to mercury when eating fish: Université de Montréal study <<I wouldn’t bank on this quite yet, but it’s a pretty cool finding if it pans out with further research. (Montreal Gazette)
• Is cheese better than butter for heart health? <<So this was funded by the dairy industry… BUT it is actually a well-designed study. Also it’s the third or fourth pro-cheese for health study I’ve seen in the past few months. The working hypothesis is there is added benefit because cheese is the leading source of vitamin K2 in the diet. (Medline)
• How To Make Candy Apple Cookies <<I’m generally not a huge fan of sweets, but if you’re going to have something every now and then apple-based “cookies” a pretty good choice. Personally I’d lean toward more natural and healthy toppings (dark chocolate, peanuts, dried fruit, etc.), but the proof of principle here is cool. Also, huge congrats to my friend Brit for launching her new creative living site! (Brit)

What inspired you this week?

Tags: B.S. of the week, cheese, fish, heritage turkeys, local, mercury, money, Thanksgiving, vitamin K2

Thanks to those of you who participated in last week’s show on Probiotics & Fermented Foods, it was a great discussion. You can find the show notes below.

The next episode is scheduled for Tuesday, May 24 @ 6:30pm PST. We’ll be discussing Weight Loss Tips & Tricks. If you’d like to participate, sign up by this Friday, May 13, to receive the first month of Tomato Slice for free.

May 1, 2011 | What is the scientific evidence behind eating fermented foods or pre- and probiotics, and what are the best sources?

Tune in today at 1pm PST to join our live discussion about probiotics.

Live participation is only available to subscribers of the newsletter Tomato Slice. You can sign up at any time, even during the show, and the password for participation will be emailed to you immediately.

Click here to sign up and get the password

Read this for more information on the show and newsletter

To watch live and join the discussion click the red “Join event” button, login with Twitter or your Vokle account, and enter the password when prompted.

I encourage you to call in with video questions, particularly if your question is nuanced and may involve a back and forth discussion. Please use headphones to call in however, or the feedback from the show is unbearable.

Show notes:

In an attempt to answer Aisha’s question about whether sauerkraut (or kimchi) goes bad I’ve done a bit of reading and haven’t found much. Most evidence suggests that unopened and submerged in brine it is good almost indefinitely. However, once it is open I haven’t seen much evidence that it goes “bad,” but it might not be as pleasant.

Because it is fermented it is unlikely to experience much rot, so I would judge by color, smell and your own personal comfort level. Obviously anything with a physical growth or mold should be tossed.

If anyone else has any insight please share.

References:

• Potential benefits of probiotics–main findings of an in-depth review
• Probiotics and gastrointestinal diseases
• Food-based strategies to modulate the composition of the intestinal microbiota and their associated health effects.
• Prebiotics and bone health

Tags: cheese, kefir, kimchi, lacto-fermentation, miso, prebiotics, probiotics, sauerkraut, tempeh, yogurt

Thanks to those of you who participated in this episode on the role of dairy in health and weight loss. Show notes are below.

Please note that the date for the probiotics episode (#6) has changed to Monday, April 25 @ 6:30p PST (previously Tuesday, April 26).

April 11, 2011 | Does milk really protect against osteoporosis? Will too much calcium give you prostate cancer? Can you reduce acne if you stop eating dairy? What’s the deal with raw milk?

The answers may surprise you.

Tune in tonight at 6:30pm PST to join our live discussion about the pros and cons of dairy.

Live participation is only available to subscribers of the newsletter Tomato Slice. You can sign up at any time, even during the show, and the password for participation will be emailed to you immediately.

Click here to sign up and get the password

Read this for more information on the show and newsletter

To watch live and join the discussion click the red “Join event” button, login with Twitter or your Vokle account, and enter the password when prompted.

I encourage you to call in with video questions, particularly if your question is nuanced and may involve a back and forth discussion. Please use headphones to call in however, or the feedback from the show is unbearable.

Show notes:

There is a huge amount of politics surrounding this science, because of the powerful influence of dairy industries around the world. This makes data difficult to interpret. The following review and its rebuttal regarding the role of milk in type 1 diabetes is a perfect example of what I mean:

Dairy & type 1 diabetes

• Literature review
  http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v59/n5/full/1602104a.html#bib11

• Critique of review based on funding influences
  http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v60/n3/full/1602322a.html

Dairy and osteoporosis

• Recommended calcium intake = 1,000 mg for adults

• Osteoporosis is more common in Western countries than in Asia, Africa or So. America
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004072/figure/F0001/
• Western and developed countries consume the most dairy, and as countries consume more osteoporosis becomes more common
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15775506
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18947030
  • http://www.foodscience.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/intro.html
• Correlation between high calcium intake and hip fractures
  • Eat, Drink & Be Healthy, by Walter Willett

• Also, much of the world is lactose intolerant
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance
• Some evidence that dairy protects against osteoporosis
  • http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/19/suppl_2/83S
• Calcium supplementation does not protect against fractures
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18286218?dopt=Abstract
  • but might with vitamin D http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17720017?dopt=Abstract
• Vitamin D, calcium, fruits and vegetables, protein important for bone health
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19968914
• Diet “acidity” (from protein & other sources) is not a factor in osteoporosis
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19754972

Dairy and acne

• Dairy consistently shown to promote acne, probably via hormonal mechanisms
  • http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-4632.2009.04002.x/full
• Treat acne with low GI foods (skip sugar & flour) and omega-3 fatty acids

Dairy/calcium and heart disease

• Calcium supplementation increases CVD risk
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20671013
  • http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c3856.long

Dairy/calcium and prostate cancer

• Calcium increases prostate cancer risk
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20516117
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21335998
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20843485
• Reduce risk with legumes, nuts, seafood
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20232354

Dairy/calcium and colon cancer

• Calcium decreases colorectal cancer risk
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21335998
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19423533
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19237724
• Though data is inconsistent
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8333412

Dairy & breast cancer

• Dairy and meat do not promote cancer in adult women
  • http://www.ajcn.org/content/90/3/455.long
• Some studies show reduced risk of cancer (both from China)
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21442197
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21128178
• Milk from cows given rBGH (hormone from Monsanto) increase cancer risk
  • http://www.preventcancer.com/press/releases/july8_98.htm

Dairy & weight loss (very tough to find studies not funded by dairy industry)

• Moderate weight loss from dairy (but rarely from intervention studies w/o caloric restriction)
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21320381
• Possible mechanisms include:
  • Ca++
  • protein
  • conjugated lineoleic acid (CLA)
  • medium-chain fatty acids
• My interpretation: dairy not likely to have big impact on body weight

Cheese protects against cancer and heart disease?

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20335553
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19179058
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21447660

Extras

• Raw Milk, A Potentially Risky Elixer, by Bill Marler

Tags: acne, Bill Marler, calcium, cancer, cheese, dairy, heart disease, lactose intolerance, milk, osteoporosis, prostate cancer, raw milk, vitamin D, Weight Loss

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week I learned that cheese is associated with lower cancer rates, and it wasn’t even an April Fools’ joke. I’m also cautiously optimistic about Kroger’s new food scoring system that actually calls out junk food for what it is. Oh oh oh! And I can’t wait to try the canned unicorn meat I’ve heard so much about.

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For complete reading lists join me on the social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon and Delicious. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you there. (Note: If you want a follow back on Twitter introduce yourself with an @ message).

Links of the week

• End the War on Fat <<A fabulous review of America’s upside down nutrition advice of the past several decades, especially as it pertains to fat and heart disease. Hats off to Slate for this one.
• Higher vitamin K intake tied to lower cancer risks <<Read this article carefully and you’ll see they found a correlation between cheese consumption and less cancer. Correlation is not causation, but at least the trend wasn’t in the other direction! (Reuters)
• Giant Greenhouses Mean Flavorful Tomatoes All Year <<BS of the week. This quote says it all: “They don’t make a tomato that my grandmother would have liked. They make a tomato that my son would like or my daughter would like.” Why does our society tolerate the watering down of our quality of life? And at exorbitant prices, no less. (New York Times)
• How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally, Without a Store-Bought Kit <<Good info on how to use common foods to dye Easter eggs, if you’re into that sorta thing. (Serious Eats)
• Kroger’s New Food Scoring System Spells Trouble for Food Manufacturers <<This makes me incredibly happy. Let’s hope that honesty isn’t a liability in the food industry (but don’t hold your breath). (BNET)
• How Much Exercise Will Prevent Weight Gain? <<The amount of exercise needed for weight loss will be different for everyone, but it’s nice to see a little data for once. (New York Times)
• Springing Back into Food-Forward Farmers’ Markets <<Farmers markets across the country are starting to open back up! EcoSalon lists some of the country’s best.
• Savory Unicorn & Heirloom Tomato Bruchetta Recipe <<The unicorn for this recipe are fattened on candy corn, that’s how you know it’s good. (ThinkGeek)
• Vinegar and Weight Loss: Didn’t Work For Me <<Why does this not surprise me? Steve Parker MD, one of my favorite self-experimenters, debunks another diet myth. (Diabetic Mediterranean Diet Blog)
• Asparagus Pesto <<This week’s real recipe is seasonal and looks delicious, from one of my favorite local bloggers. (Local Lemons)

What’s your good news?

Tags: B.S. of the week, cheese, Exercise, fat, food industry, heart disease, vinegar

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

The highlight this week (for me anyway) was the first Summer Tomato appearance over at my favorite blog, Lifehacker. Apparently they thought my tip on getting soft fruits and veggies home from the market without smashing them was pretty awesome. This week’s link love features a ton of cool food-related science tidbits, including a podcast from NPR’s Science Friday and a video “Baloney Detection Kit.”

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For complete reading lists join me on the social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon and Delicious. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you there.

I also invite you to submit your own best food and health articles for next week’s For The Love of Food, just drop me an email using the contact form. I am also accepting guest posts at Summer Tomato for any awesome healthstyle tips you’d like to share.

This post is an open thread. Share your thoughts, writing (links welcome!) and delicious meals of the week in the comments below.

For The Love of Food

• Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food <<Read this. If you’re still not convinced our industrial food system needs a change, I hope this article changes your mind. (Time Magazine)
• Of car crashes and Snickers bars <<Really cool article putting calorie counts into perspective. (Grist)
• More evidence that saturated fat has been falsely accused? <<Seems more and more like the real culprits in cancer and heart disease are processed foods and insulin, not so much saturated fat. (Nutrition Data)
• Tests Begin on Drugs That May Slow Aging <<This is a fantastic article, but I’m calling it B.S. of the week to prevent myself from getting into politics and healthcare (grrr). Though the story is well-researched and the science of anti-aging drugs is fascinating, I’m not holding my breath for the fountain of youth pill. (New York Times)
• Exercise won’t make you thin, or so concludes misguided TIME magazine article <<My friends over at Obesity Panacea did a great analysis of the Time Magazine article from last week about exercise and weight loss.
• Phys Ed: Does Exercise Reduce Your Cancer Risk? <<Whether exercise makes you thin or not, it is still likely to have other benefits such as lowering your risk of cancer. (New York Times)
• When good tongues go bad <<The best ever reason to quit smoking. It kills your taste buds!! (Los Angeles Times)
• Thai cucumber salad (Yum Tang Gwa) <<Speaking of taste, check out this amazing Thai shrimp and cucumber salad recipe. Yum! (Chez Pim)
• The Cheese Chronicles <<Science Friday on NPR did an awesome piece last week on the science of cheese making–the real stuff, not that orange goop. The listen button is in the upper left corner when you go to the page. (National Public Radio)
• Are you getting sold snake oil? <<One of the most difficult things about science is sorting out the good from the bad. This Baloney Detection Kit gives you the intellectual tools you need to hone in on the facts. Thanks to Yoni (@yonifreedhoff) and Esther (@estherar) for the tip!

Tags: B.S. of the week, calories, cancer, cheese, Exercise, home cooks, industrial food, saturated fat, Science, smoking